30,000 in London Watch Israel’s First Turboprop Passenger Plane

September 9, 1957

London (Sep. 8)

More than 30,000 people stood on line to see the new Bristol Britannia owned by Israel’s national airline, E1 A1, at the Farborough Air Fair which closed today.

All during the week, huge queues of experts from this country and abroad and ordinary citizens filed into the huge four engine turboprop transcontinental liner. The British-manufactured Israeli craft was easily the most popular grounded exhibit at the aviation show.

Brig. Ephraim Ben Artzi, general manager of E1 A1 Airlines, said today the first of four giant Bristol Britannia turbo-prop passenger planes purchased by the airline will be flown Thursday to Israel. “It will be a major event in the progress of civil aviation when E1 A1 leads the way in turboprop air transport over the North Atlantic, “he declared. He disclosed that December 1 had been tentatively listed as the date for the star: of Lydda-New York service with the Britannia plane.